Repertory classes and orchestra perform ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

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The Advanced Repertory Theatre and Repertory Theatre classes, along with the orchestra, put on “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Dec. 8 and 9.

The show was put on as a radio show with sound effects being made live and commercials throughout the show.

Friday night the Repertory Theatre performed the show on the stage while the Advanced Repertory Theatre performed the sound effects on the back of the stage, and the classes switched on Saturday.

Dalton Hayse, senior, was George Bailey in the Saturday night show. Hayse said, “My favorite part about it was probably just getting to play such an iconic Christmas role in a show with such an incredible message.”

Because both classes performed the show, each character was double cast. Hayse said, “It was really interesting to see Jon Swanson play George because you were able to see the differences in our acting styles.”

He explained how their inflection on lines was very different, along with their acting choices.

Grace Hewitt, junior, played Mary Hatch in the Friday night show. Hewitt said performing such a classic role felt “overwhelming at first,” but once she got further into the process, “it became real and made [her] more eager to perform.”

Maddie Kindig, junior, also played Mary Hatch, but in the Saturday night show. Kindig said, “The process of this show was definitely different from any other show I’ve been in; The blocking was just going to microphones; we were both the cast and crew.”

The sound effects ranged from sounds such as doors opening, to crying children, to a car crash. They were made with random objects found in the scene shop, costume closet or props closet. Kindig said her favorite part was “finding random things in the prop closet to make into sound effects.”

When asked about the sound effects, Hewitt said, “It was fun to focus on sounds because it was new. We got to create a very important element of the show from nothing.”

The orchestra played songs such as “Sleigh Ride,” “March of the Nutcracker” and “Deck the Halls” throughout the performance.